Sometimes a graphic paints a clearer picture than words alone, and given the recent bond issue activity I thought it would be interesting to look at how the City of Warren has allocated its resources in making a number of significant, recent, financial commitments. It’s important to note that these numbers are not final. There is nothing in these figures for a one-stop building. Mayor Franklin stopped short of saying the idea is dead in the the last City Council meeting, but he did say he is rethinking it. He hinted that he will be introducing new legislation that would likely reduce the building expense but increase the investments in both building and street repairs, which are already the two largest segments.

I don’t know anyone who thinks extra spending on our streets is a bad idea. The building repair cost would go up in order to solve the problem the one-stop had been intended to solve. The only people I know of who think this is a bad idea either have not been inside any city buildings lately or are people who don’t think the City’s image is important to its future. This latter proposition is one I will never understand.

One could categorize this spending in several ways but I look at all of it save the $790,000 in “computer upgrades” and the $580,000 fire truck as an investment in fighting blight; a good thing in my view.